Long shots return

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Head Start

Spain vs Italy

Group B | Matchday 2 of 3 | Today at 20:00 BST

It’s another busy day of football… 

(See Stats Zone for a summary of England vs Denmark).

… and two of Europe’s heavyweights come together in today’s late game, Spain versus Italy. 

It’s the 11th time they face each other in a major tournament and when it comes to the Euros and World Cup, Italy have the upper hand. 

The Azzurri have only lost one of their last 10 matches against Spain at these tournaments, with the only defeat coming in the final at Euro 2012.

But, Spain will go into this fixture as favourites based on recent form as…

• Spain have won their last two encounters against Italy, both in the Nations League…

• … and they won comfortably in their opening game (3-0 versus Croatia)... the opposite of Italy’s shaky 2-1 win over Albania.

Another reason Spain will go into this game confident is that… they have won their last three Euros matches against the reigning champions. 

(Side note: on all three occasions, La Roja reached the final of the competition. A good omen should they beat Luciano Spalletti’s men.)

Either way, both teams will be relying on youth.

Lamine Yamal, who’s just 16 years old and studying for exams, had the most touches in Croatia’s box (6), created the joint-most chances (3), and grabbed an assist for Dani Carvajal’s first international goal. 

Then there’s Italy’s Riccardo Calafiori. Dubbed the next Paolo Maldini, had a match to remember against Albania… 

With both teams winning their opening game, the “group of death” pressure will have eased.

But, with so much history between the two sides, don’t expect a light affair.

• 💉 Spain Quick-Hit: Their win over Croatia on the weekend was the first time in 136 competitive matches that Spain had less possession than their opponents.

• 💉 Italy Quick-Hit: Despite often relying on experience, Italy have entered Euro 2024 with the sixth-youngest squad (26.5 years on average). 

Plus… 

Steve Cooper agrees to become Leicester City’s new head coach (More)

Manchester United are linked with Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, who has a release clause in his contract that can be activated for €40 million (More)

Aston Villa have agreed a deal with Chelsea to sign Dutch defender Ian Maatsen on a six-year contract. The 22-year-old will cost between £35-40 million (More)

Stats Zone

Euros: England vs Denmark (Today 20 June, 17:00 BST)

→ These teams have faced each other on three previous occasions at major tournaments, with Denmark failing to win any of those meetings. 

→ There have only been five goals scored in the last four meetings between Denmark (two) and England (three) in all competitions.

→ England average 1.9 goals per game under Southgate at major tournaments, the best ratio of any Three Lions boss.

Euros: Scotland 1 - 1 Switzerland

→ Scotland have gained their first-ever result in a UEFA European Championship game in which they’ve conceded.

→ Xherdan Shaqiri has become the only player to score in each of the last six major tournaments since the 2014 World Cup.

→ Switzerland have lost just one of their last 12 matches at the UEFA European Championship (W4 D7)

Copa America: Argentina vs Canada (21 June, 01:00 BST)

→ Since their victory over France in December 2022, Argentina have lost just one of their 14 matches in all competitions and won the other 13.

→ Canada did not score in either of their warm-up friendlies against the Netherlands (4-0) or France (0-0), last finding the net in March.

Yesterday’s results

Group A: Germany 2 - 0 Hungary (Highlights) | Scotland 1 - 1 Switzerland (Highlights)

Group B: Croatia 2 - 2 Albania (Highlights)

Scroll below to On Today for today’s fixtures.

Euro 2024

Long shots are back

It’s no secret that long shots are a dying art. 

Last season, the Premier League saw the lowest number of goals scored outside the box. Just 11.5% of all goals were scored from distance.

Gone are the days when Goal of the Month contenders were packed with screamers from 30 yards out…  

… and while that might be true for club football, it looks like international football is taking a different approach. 

If you’ve been watching the Euros, you’d have seen a lot of long-shot goals…

• Arda Guler’s stunning goal (Watch)

• Provod’s elegant striker (Watch)

• Stanciu’s insane technique (Watch)

… and that’s not even the half of it.

Yes, it’s true. Long shots were on the decline. There were only 17 goals and 19 goals scored from outside the box in 51 games in Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, respectively. 

But this year’s Euros has already seen 11 such goals in just 12 matches…

The best explanation… is that long shots fell out of favour because of the rise in data.

Expected goals (xG) data favours shots from inside the box (for obvious reasons) so managers tell players to take fewer risks with long shots.

(Some people blame Pep’s fashionable possessional style as the culprit, but Manchester City were quick to remind everyone that they scored the most (15) from outside the box last year in the Premier League.)

More specifically, at the club level, it’s easier to coach patterns of play which allow teams to get closer to the goal before shooting… 

… but the lack of coaching time at international level, and probably the heightened emotions of playing for your country, means players are more likely to take risks. 

There’s only been one goal from outside the box in a Euros final (Éder’s match-winner in 2016) in over 30 years… but at this rate, we might see another one, or two… or three.

Off The Pitch

🏎️ Ferrari’s first electric car is set to cost over $500,00 (More)

📈 Microsoft has been surpassed as the most valuable public company in the world (More)

⚡️ Electricity prices in France turn negative as renewable energy floods the grid (More)

🤑 Austrian heiress lets fifty citizens decide who will get her €25 million fortune (More)

🤔 A mysterious monolith appeared in the Las Vegas desert, either evidence of aliens or a human’s desperate attempt to go viral (More)

😤 The U.S. sues Adobe for hiding fees and making it difficult to cancel (More)

Photo of the Day

On this day in 2000… Alan Shearer won his last cap for England. The high point of his international career came at Euro 96. Despite not scoring for England in two years, manager Terry Venables kept faith in the striker. Shearer ended the tournament with five goals and the Golden Boot. He retired from international footbal having scored 30 goals for England in 63 appearances.

Around The Football World

🌍 The date of the next AFCON is set to be moved from July-August 2025 to December-January 2025/26 because of the new Club World Cup, which means it will overlap with the Premier League's Christmas schedule.

🇪🇸 England goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck joins Barcelona from Manchester City on a free transfer (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chelsea’s £30 million bid for Athletico Madrid’s 20-year-old striker Samu Omorodion has been rejected and have told The Blues they’re keen to hold on to the young talent (More)

🇺🇬 Uganda’s football federation (Fufa) has banned 13 individuals, including 10 referees, after successfully uncovering a South African-based match-fixing syndicate (More)

Extra Time

Noel Gallagher has designed Manchester City’s club font for the 2024/25 season.

The French team were in awe of N’Golo Kanté’s performance vs Austria.

The contenders for Copa America’s Golden Boot.

Tom and Jerry is Darwin Nunez’s favourite TV show.

Romania legend Gheorghe Hagi scored one of the World Cup’s greatest goals 30 years ago.

(Sound warning) This Turkish commentator’s passion for Arder Guler’s goal is unmatched.

Game Face On

Question: Olivier Giroud became the fourth player to play in seven major tournaments with France. Can you name the other three?

Hint: Father of a current player. Golden title. Former captain.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Euro 2024: Slovenia vs Serbia (14:00 BST)

Euro 2024: Denmark vs England (17:00 BST)

Euro 2024: Spain vs Italy (20:00 BST)

Copa America: Argentina vs Canada (01:00 BST)

CRICKET

ICC T20 World Cup: Afghanistan vs India (15:00 BST)

ICC T20 World Cup: Australia vs Bangladesh (01:00 BST)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Hugo Lloris.

Hottest Take of the Day

Today’s Hottest Take of the Day is: Kante is more pivotal to France’s squad than Mbappé. Thanks to Anathi for the entry. Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.